Messages - Cameron Whitmore

Luna and Cameron were talking together, chatting about what was the life as a companion. Rather than being judgmental, Cameron proved to be fascinated by Luna’s adventures. There were never a name passing the white-haired Companion’s lips, but they nicknamed them to know who they were talking about. The chemistry between the medic and the companion was undeniable, but it was purely friendly.

The message came over the com, and the two became quiet to listen. It was a quick message to announce a briefing. Luna took the time to finish her current anecdote before Cameron thought it was time to go. It wasn’t like the ship was so big that they would take half an hour to get there anyway. “Let’s get there now, I’d rather be ahead than late” The redhead said, and knew that she was going to see the pilot there, without being so obvious like hanging out in the cockpit or something of the like. She still enjoyed the man’s presence, but she was afraid to make it so obvious that he would think her clingy or something.

“Agreed.” The two of them came out of Luna’s room, which had had its door open all along, and they walked slowly toward the galley. There was someone walking ahead of them, making Cameron smile and Luna noticed. “He does fill the seat of his pants rather deliciously.” The companion whispered, but there was a teasing edge to her words that made Cameron grimace slightly.

“I dare say that it’s more than just the seat of his pants. I wish I could have him on my table in the medbay again. He's all muscles.” She said, feeling her cheeks prickle with a blush.

“Oh? Really?” Luna said after a soft gasp, and the tease just made the redhead flush a little more.

“Nothing happened, just a kiss.” she insisted, but Luna gave her a knowing smile.

The discussion was all done in whispers, so that the man ahead would not overhear, anything more than the sound of their steps and that the two women were talking. When they entered the galley, Cameron went to sit by Cain and found herself sandwiched between him and the companion.

“Good morning guys.” She said rather unceremoniously. The difference in grace between her and the companion was glaring, but Cameron knew that she could have as much poise if she wanted. Right now, there was way too much red to her cheeks anyway.

“Good morning, Captain, and Mister Dyer.” Luna said as she sat down more delicately than Cameron had, took the time to cross her legs at the knees and place her hands on the table, fingers laced together.

“Sometimes.” She answered to his rhetorical question, but it was obvious that they were both in a good, flirtatious mood. She rarely had chemistry so quickly with men, especially since… She didn’t want to think about him now. Her chemistry with Cain was sweet, it was comfortable, and she didn’t feel the need to run away from him at all. There was something about the fact that he had informed her regarding the knife in his boot that reassured her. A man who planned to harm a woman would not tell her exactly where he had her weapon of choice concealed.

Cameron smirked when he mentioned that she’d be missed on the skyplex. Most who would miss her were those she’d rather have forget about her. Sure, a few of them were real grateful, but some of them had managed to sound lewd in spite of the bullet hole in their thigh, or the five inch long cut that she was sewing up. She didn’t miss the skyplex at all. Red hair, curves and the air of innocence that her big blue eyes gave her were getting her way too much unwanted attention.

“I’m not gonna pry, Cain. We all have pasts and some of us aren’t eager to broadcast it, it’s fine.” Cameron felt the need to let him know that she’d respect his boundaries, his need for privacy. It wasn’t like they were getting married or anything. She hadn’t lost her smile, or at least not completely. It had gone from a teasing smirk to a simple warm smile, just to let him know that when she said it was fine, she meant in.

“Be safe.” Cameron said, with a nod. She needed just a few things for dinner. Mostly, she wanted fresh meat and fresh bread. The bread was the easiest to find fresh. The meat she was more picky about. After a few stories of something that passed for beef but wasn’t, Cameron had grown very critical. It took her about twenty minutes to find what she wanted, and a few more things for the next day’s morning, when she made her way toward the meeting spot. She slowed as she spotted a group of four men just a year or three younger than her, hanging out and being generally boisterous.

Cameron knew trouble when she saw it, and remained to the side while her gaze looked for the man who would make passing through these boys safer than if she went on her own. Cain remained nowhere to be seen, but when her gaze caught a movement in the direction of the four men, she saw that they were coming toward her. ‘Peachy, this was just peachy’ Cameron thought, and put all of her bags in her off hand, preparing the other to get the knife hidden under the sleeve of her coat. She would never be able to take all four of them for sure. Gorram army brats.

“Hey there gorgeous. You waitin’ for someone?”

“Yes.” She answered warily. Cameron knew these guys would smell fear, so she had to keep it tightly wrapped and not let it take over.

“Too bad he ain’t here, huh?” another one said, reaching out to touch her hair, but she slapped the hand away. From there, everything went south very fast, and she cursed that she was just far enough removed from the edge of the market to make her easy picking. She wouldn’t go down without a fight for sure, and she had learned a thing or three since the last time her husband had beaten her eight shades of blue. All along, she knew to keep her blades for the last resort. A weapon brought into a fight could be turned against her, and right now she already was on the losing end, she wasn’t about to give them even more of an edge. All that she could hope, was that she could hold them off long enough for Cain to come… and she hoped that he would come to her help, not just go on and stay clear of trouble.

“Oh yeah, I’ll miss you, but it’ll make your return sweeter,” Cameron replied without thinking. She had not taken his comment as arrogant, she had not been bothered by it at all. As far as she was concerned, Cain had been jesting, and perhaps flirting, and she had answered in kind. Cameron was generally quite easy going, didn’t want to pick a fight. As a matter of fact, she tended to stay out of the way of conflicts as much as she could.

“I do. I landed on the skyplex while being on the run from a rather unhealthy husband. Couldn’t leave a paper trail, couldn’t use my nurse license anyway because he’d be able to track me down if someone asked my references, so… Eir it was. At least on the Gryphon, I have some down time. Between illegal fighting rings, mercs who decide to claim their dues by force, and other criminal activities, I was never without work on the skyplex, not much rest for me there. I think I slept for a week straight when I finally got my spot on the Gryphon.” She joked as they walked. It was probably more information than he wanted to hear from her, but it did give him an idea of where she came from.

“What brings you on the Gryphon? You were captain of your own ship, from what you said earlier.” She asked and turned her gaze to him for a moment, away from the crowd ahead, as if to say ‘yeah, I noticed that’. And smirked, but her gaze did not linger on him, no matter how easy he was to look at. There was a crowd to keep an eye on, and like Cain, she was not overly confident.

Cameron smirked. If everyone’s mind was going as fast about things as his did, Cameron thought that so much more would get done. Or the chaos would be even more chaotic. Maybe it was better that not everyone operated on his level, now that she thought about it. Her faith in humanity wasn’t overly good lately, and she could just imagine how much faster mankind would head to its own destruction, given the means to.

“Alright, then. I’ll just give the infirmary over to you. Just make sure you don’t break any of the expensive stuff. I’ll see you tomorrow. Close the light and the door on your way out. If you have questions, I’ll be in the kitchen, looking at what I can cook us for dinner.” She said and as she passed by him, after recuperating her device to read, she pat him gently on the arm and waked out of the infirmary to go exactly where she said she would.

Cammy made a mental note of the boot where he kept a knife. She did not think that she would ever find herself in a position where she would need it, but given that this ship had a captain whose moral compass was not pointing true north, things were bound to go sideways sooner or later. Cameron did not feel up for a fight, and the old saying that one shouldn’t bring knives so a gun fight was one that she did believe in, but she didn’t believe in her aim with a gun, so knives it would be. Maybe she ought to practice knife throwing? Right…

Waiting outside, slightly unnerved and annoyed by Gavin’s comments, she jumped slightly when she heard Cain’s words. “All set to go.” Cameron said and glanced toward the other male crew mate before she fell into steps with Cain. She nodded slowly when he mentioned that he would have to leave her for a few minutes to do some shopping of his own. “I’ll be fine, Cain. I lived on my own on the Eir Skyplex for six months, I think I can handle a trip at the market.” She shared.

The Eir skyplex was well known among people of… questionable standings with the law. On the surface, it was a mining complex on one of Regina’s moons, but when one looked just below the surface – and not that far below, given that the company that administrated the place was corrupt to the bones – the black market, illegal fight clubs, and other criminal activities were hard to miss. “I manned the clinic for the miners and their… guests.” She specified, feeling the need to let him know that she wasn’t a criminal herself. Nah, she was just a black widow, not a criminal at all. Right.

“Take your time. There’s no one in the infirmary so it’s the best time for you to test things. We aren’t going anywhere dangerous for the time being so chances that someone land on my table with a bullet wound are slim.” Cameron said, though she was relieved to see that the mechanic was being enthusiastic about what she needed, after she turned down his gift. She really did not need him to rush things. Cameron was more of a things done slow and well rather than rushed and bugged, especially when the life of her crewmates could be at stake.

“You can bring the prototype tomorrow, if you are ready to show me, but there is really no reason to be so hasty. I bet you love to build those little gizmos because it keeps your hyperactive mind busy.” Cameron mentioned, thinking that it was the most likely scenarios. An hyper-intelligent mind with a knack for engineering would no doubt love the challenge of creating small things – and no doubt bigger things too.

“I have a fondness of sharp objects, and I can’t really shoot. Just pray I’ll never get to use a gun to save your life. Unless it’s to blow a large tank of gas or something. I’ve learned not to go anywhere into the black without my blades on.” She said with a crooked smile. Blades had saved her life more than once before, so she had learned to use even better after that. She covered her blades with her leather jacket and turned to him, ready to leave.

“Meet you on the docks.” She said but her gaze did not leave him until he was out of sight. Those shoulders tapered down to that narrow waist, and damn did he fill the seat of his pants just right. She licked her lips and caught herself. She muttered softly. “Really, Cam? Thirty minutes after you meet him? All it took is an awkward blurted out comment about your eyes? To get all flirty and kissing? You’re pathetic… But that body. That body” She made a soft groan and rolled her eyes at herself.

Minutes later, she was waiting at the door out of the ship, with Gavin lurking not to far. “Going somewhere, sweets?”

“Market, Gavin. And it’s Cammy or Cameron, not sweets, not babe, not anything else. Not to you anyway.” She replied wryly. “I’m gonna stay on board tonight, the new pilot will probably stay on board too. So why don’t get go out and get laid, so you can stop thinking with your balls? Provided that you haven’t lost the instruction manual to use that other brain…” She decided that she really didn’t like the guy. He made a rather rude gesture at her, and Cameron turned sideways, with her back to the ship, to look at the market.

Cameron had misjudge the distance Cain would need to stand up, and thus he was rather close to her, his body almost pressed to hers. She glanced up at him; he made her feel small and quite vulnerable. He would have no difficulties overpowering her and while it did raise yet another flag in the back of her mind, all that she did was raise both of her hand and place them gently a few inches above his belt, against his abs. She wasn’t pushing, or even trying to keep him at a distance – she would have to take a step back from him to do that, really – she had simply given in to the urge to touch him without even thinking about the consequences.

She took a deep breath, surprised to feel that she was not tense even if her heart raced. It’s only when he spoke that Cameron realized that while he could probably pick her up, and move her aside to leave, she was basically keeping him between her and the table on which he sat minutes ago. “If you’ve got nothing better to do, I would surely appreciate the company.” She said with a slow nod. Her mind wrapped itself around the situation and she finally took a step back.

When she removed the white lab coat that she always wore to protect her clothes and to avoid contaminating a wound as much as possible, Cameron revealed two of the three blades that she carried on her person at all time. A small dagger at her belt and there was a sheath strapped round her forearm that also contained a metallic weapon. It was a silver-colored butterfly knife that she could release in her hand, or reach with her other hand inside her sleeves. When she said a woman that appears to be unarmed, it was obvious that she was talking about herself, and that the unarmed part was really just appearances.

“Still up for spaghetti and meatballs?” She asked as she wore a leather jacket that concealed the two weapons to view efficiently without hindering her should she need them. She looked over her shoulder at him while she pulled her long red stands from under the brown coat, and she had a smile playing on her lips.

Cameron could feel her heart racing. There was all sorts of red flags coming up. Rushing into things with a man she barely knew was something she should know what to do. Kissing a man whom she was examining only a moment before was definitely a breach of ethics. In spite of this, and a few more red flags, she found herself unable to pull back and away from his reach, should he try to resume the kiss.

There was something in the way that he reacted to the touch of her hand that led her to think he might be the kind to appreciate affectionate gesture. Perhaps he felt a need for it, she did not know, but he had leaned into her hand, and not moved further away from her when the kiss was brought to an end. Maybe, just maybe, there was more to it than just a way to distract him. Her attraction to him was undeniable, and his had at least hinted of the same to her.

“There are far worse things than being told you are special.” She said and did not move away when his lips pressed to hers again. “Are you able to stand yet?” She asked, knowing that the viability of the blood in the vial was short, and that she had to take care of it. She had not moved away from him completely, but just to give him enough space to stand between her and the table he was sitting on. It crossed her mind that she should have requested that he take off his shirt for the time of the exam, but it was really not needed. It would have been pleasant regardless… "Ah... do you know how safe the market is for a woman alone who appears unarmed?" She asked, trying to keep her gaze from betraying her thoughts of him shirtless.

“Mmhmm” He said, pulling the needle out of his arm, and quickly putting pressure against the little hole so that his body could do its thing and avoid a bruise. “So the idea of a kiss with me is that mind-numbing, uh?” She teased gently. She felt his hold on her arm become firmer. Tension had the possibility of a kiss, then? As he leaned toward her, she was convinced that he would come to claim it and was glad that she wasn’t the kind to tease and not deliver.

After her hands were both quickly rid of the rubber gloves, and a tiny piece of surgical tape held the ball of cotton in place, Cameron turned her attention to him completely. She raised her free hand to the side of his face and felt the heat of his cheek and the coarseness of his beard against her palm. With this to guide her, she leaned in the rest of the way. She could have gone for a quick, chaste kiss or tried to trick him into saying that she had not spoken about lips, but she did not.

Her lips pressed against his gently but firmly, and lingered for a few second. There was a slowness to her kiss that spoke of sensuality, but also of lack of haste or desire to be quickly done with it. If he thought that he was forcing himself onto her, forcing her though this kiss, it would be rather obvious that he did not. Her second hand came running up his arm and stopped at his shoulder when she broke the contact of their lips and moved back slightly, not quite out of reach for him. “I don’t make a habit of kissing potential crew mates, or offer to cook for them, for that matter. I wonder what it is about you that makes you so special. She said with a crooked smile.

Cameron felt bad, really bad, when she saw the reaction of the ship’s engineer. A part of her was thinking that she should have put on the ring and be done with it, but she really felt like it was going to be wasted on her. She wasn’t aware of the problems that Weasel had with his previous employer and how he had to remain hidden, so it made sense to her that he would seek to make a fortune out of it.

“Ah… yeah, sure. I just don’t know how much of it requires programming. I’d like to be able to monitor the vitals of someone who is on board of the ship, without having to be with them. Do you think you could do that? I’ve got a heart monitor that I’d really love to be able to keep an eye on… Something like the size of a watch would be good… like this.” She said and walked around the bed to get a bracelet that monitored blood pressure and heart rate, but not as in depth as the heart monitor with all of its sensors. She still went right by the engineer.

“This doesn’t show me all I need to know, and it has to be around the patient’s wrist. I need something easy to carry around, that feeds me the information that this machine monitors. Heart rate, frequency and strength, systolic and diastolic blood pressure...It doesn’t have to beep like those annoying machines, but it would be very handy if they did when the patient’s heart goes wrong… Think you can do that?” She asked, and actually sounded hopeful. Truth was, being the sole medic on board, if something dire happened to one of them, she would most likely have to sleep in that little reading nook she had made for herself, and the idea was far from pleasant.

Cameron opened a small packet and took an alcohol wipe to clean up the spot. She let him talk while she worked on wrapping the band around his arm to make his veins even more visible. Goodness he wasn’t small; arms, shoulder, chest… he was gorgeous. Such a change compared to what had been in her life so far, but Cammy didn’t want to think about the ones that had come before. Nothing positive had come from either of them… And nothing guaranteed that something would happen between Cain and herself, even if he was by far the most attractive of the crew, and one of the few who had not made her feel like she should run for the hills.

“I’ll make you spaghetti, and if I can find some decent meat in the market outside, I’ll even add some meatballs. Big guys like you tend to like their proteins.” She said with a lopsided smile. Her gaze left his for just a moment and as she thought would happen, she would have no trouble getting that blood from him. It took a split second for her to place the needle but before she pushed it in, she decided to send his mind for a loop. The flirting so far had made things more than a little awkward, and she figured that going one step ahead of the flirt would get his mind off the fact that she was about to draw blood.

“I’ll give you a kiss, if you just stop moving that hand and let me do it.” She said with a soft voice, but there was nothing in her tone that hinted she wouldn’t follow through. She pushed the needle in, then, thinking that his mind would have focused on the offer for a kiss just long enough to ease focus on the fear and the needle. “There you go.” She said and removed the constricting band around his bicep.

Cameron was going through the motions, her nerves settling as she did so. Hitting on the new pilot as he was barely on board would not do, she decided, but was it really a bad thing? It wasn’t like the crew was mostly female, far from it. And rushing into things what was had gotten him into an abusive marriage to begin with, so maybe she ought to put her foot on the break and slow the train before it wrecked. Good deal… But damn was he making it difficult: handsome, charming and not arrogantly confident. The last had definitely caught her attention in a good way.

His words pulled her out of her thoughts and brought her duty right front and center. He was afraid of needles. That big guy was afraid of tiny thing that barely pinched? She had killed with a fucking needle, she had reminded herself, one filled with adrenaline injected into a scum of man who had a weak heart. So yeah, fear of needles justified in some cases. In Cain’s, however, it wasn’t. She wouldn’t harm him unless he harmed her first. “Cain.” she started and came to stand right in front of him with all that she needed on the side. The tone of her voice was soft, warm and meant to be reassuring. She was a good nurse, an empathetic one, that had a job to do.

Her hand came to rest on his arm and she gently turned it tender side up. Her finger ran over a visible vein, something quite common in men who worked out. “You vein is clearly visible. I’ve done this thousands of times. You have nothing to fear, it will be nothing but a small prick lasting only a split second, I promise you. If you’d rather lie down on the table, I can work with that too. Just tell me what you need. I can keep talking about food and crew, keep you distracted while I work...” She offered, but her hand remained on his arm. There was no tremor in her hand, and though it was slightly cool because their conversation had made her slightly nervous at one point, it was not clammy. She was confident that she could do this, if he let her.

Cameron noticed how he spoke of having had his own ship in the past, but she simply filed the information for later. She had no real need of this information at the moment, but it could be important somewhere down the line. She went on checking on this and that, but she knew that soon he would have no more reason to stay in her office. Soon, he’d get the green light and she’d have to think of ways or reasons for them to have a talk without someone interrupting or eavesdropping.

“One can see a lot, if they stay on the sidelines, unnoticed, and watch. I don’t socialize much, but… The ship ain’t that big. Kinda hard to miss each other.” She said. The med by was one of the few places where people did not congregate. Otherwise, it was hard to go somewhere and not meet at least one of the crew members. She was happy on board, though. She was at home here, until Decker paid his debt to her and decided to kick her off the boat. She had no clue what would come after, or how long she’d get along with the captain, but with her future financially secure, Cameron no longer worried. She had had enough worry in the last year to last her a lifetime. Worry paid in advance.

Her brain finally kicked into gears and remembered what she was supposed to do when he spoke at her. She wasn’t sure if his words intended to be mocking or flirting, but she simply gave him a smile and moved on to the last task of the visit for him. She took a needle and a test tube in which the blood would go. “How does spaghetti and meatballs sound, for dinner?” She asked, knowing that she would be the one to cook, unless Cain volunteered. She realized only after the words had passed her lips that her question could very well be considered an invitation for something like a date. Maybe part of her intended it that way? She didn't want to over-analyze this. She was talking about the crew's dinner. Not just them. But what if everyone else was gone to eat out?

Cameron listened to the description of what this ring could do and she was impressed. Only, it was just a ring, and she was just a medic, not a doctor and not a surgeon. Half of what this ring could do would be useless to her because she had no clue how to use them. She was also naturally wary of overly technical gadgets also. Cameron took a close look at the ring, but did not put it on.

“When I started as a nurse, I was on the hypocrates this kind thing could save countless of lives. I’m no doctor, this would be wasted on me. Don’t be mistaken, I am grateful that you thought me worthy of this. Honored, even, but it would be so very selfish of me to accept it. You should patent it, and try to get it manufactured. You’d make a fortune out of it, and be at the source of so many lives saved.” Cameron said and she kept the ring in her open palm.

It wasn’t like her to refuse a gift, but she felt that this was far too important for her to take it and let it go to waste. All that she could hope was that she was not making Weasel an unfriendly crew mate, causing resentment. She really liked him and all the other people on board, but this… This was simply too much for her alone.

Cammy was taken out of her book by a single word. The new mechanic was passing by and saying hello, she thought, and was about to greet him back when she heard him speak again. Not one to be rude unless it was called for, Cammy let him talk patiently. She was that kind of person: mellow, patient, caring and usually rather quiet in the presence of men unless they ended up not being intimidating to her. The mechanic was not exactly intimidating to her. Not in the way that the mercenaries or the captain had been until she got to know them well, at least.

“Hi. I have some time now.” She said and pressed her screen to make sure that if the device ran out of power, she would know exactly where to pick up her book. Cameron looked at the man and then at what he called Genju, and then back at him. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking at there and did not want to appear to be ignorant or hurtful by asking him about it. It took her a moment before she found a tactful way to do it, but when she was quite sure that it wouldn’t be taken wrong, she took the plunge.

“You’ve got my attention, what’s the sale speech?” She asked, light-heartedly. She jumped out of her alcove and walked toward him, around her desk and toward the patient bed. She was intrigued; if he could come up with things that would make her life simpler, or would guarantee that the Gryphon would not lose one of its crew because the nearest hospital was too far, she would be a fool to refuse it. If the opposite was true and the gadget represented a risk, Cameron wouldn’t have it and would try to let him know why without being offensive.

There were times when she was bored. Working as medic on the Gryphon was nice, as long as she did not expect to work much. There was only so much cleaning she could do before going over clean spots again. There was only so much food that she could cook for the crew. There had been jokes and jabs already, about how she was trying to fatten up the mercs working on board. And the pilot. That man was hot, but she was so concerned about how he might turn out for the worse… Like just about every man who had caught her eye in her life.

Cameron had loaded a book on the hand-held tablet that connected to the cortex. Reading was killing time, but when one went from working double shifts to working no shift at all, it felt like she had been running full speed and caught both of her feet in a tight rope. Landing was hard, and Cammy was getting used to the slow pace of the Gryphon’s medbay. It wasn’t that nothing happened, really, but more that she was used to so much more, having worked the ER of a humanitarian ship and then the medbay on Eir Skyplex…

She was sitting in an alcove where she had jammed a mattress, legs crossed in front of her. Her red hair was tied high on her head and fell, as pin-straight as ever, down her back. For the tenth time, she blew her long bangs out of her sight, and for the tenth time, it slid right back into view. Tucking it behind her ears was just as useless. She wore a black shirt that was noticeably tight around the chest area, but loose below, and brown cargo pants that hugged her hips just fine. She had hesitated wearing both, knowing that beside the companion, she was the only woman on board now… And she wasn’t quite looking for her future husband yet.

Really handsome, not giving me a creep vibe which is something. Maybe we could consider a date next time the ship lands somewhere decent? Just friends, you know, to get to know each other? You don't have to say yes if you don't want to. I... am babbling now, am I?

“Well, I am no pirate, but I do have knowledge that would make some of these guys look tame. I swore an oath not to use that knowledge to bring harm, though,s o you can count on me to take care of you to the best of my abilities.” She said, though there was a lie laced in there. She had used her knowledge to kill her husband. His weak heart had given away to a dose of adrenaline that she had injected him. Cameron justified it by the fact that he would kill her, given the chance, so it was her life or his life, and she had learned to look out for herself, rather than him, in the last few months. She also knew exactly where to cut with the small knives that she had hidden here and there on herself, but that too she did not mention. She was also oblivious as to what he might have meant by “in a good way.”

Slowly, Cain appeared to her like he was easing up. “I am not… I don’t mingle much. There’s Decker whom you’ve met. Decent guy as long as the price on your head isn’t more than your worth on board. There’s Luna, the companion on board. She’s really amicable, I think she has the captain wrapped around her little finger. And there’s Gavin, who’s… I don’t know. I have a nose for trouble, and while he seems pretty solid, I can’t bring myself to trust the guy. Since I don’t mingle much, you should not let my opinion taint yours.” She said as she continued to check for signs that he might be ill or fighting some virus.

She stared in his eyes for a moment, and then he spoke. It seemed to Cammy that his filter between brain and mouth did not kick in, because his reaction after was rather… apologetic. “It’s alright. I was thinking the same about yours.” She heard herself say, but her cheeks had taken on a decent shade of pink after his words. Since she was already blushing, her one words just added a layer to it. She did not want to think about him this way, not while he was sitting on her table at least, but he was very handsome.

He was superbly built, for sure; she was convinced that if she could find and excuse to touch his arms and his abs, they would feel hard as rock, but her hands had no business going there. For the time being. What was she thinking? That he was handsome, yes, and had very beautiful lips, and... Maybe she should find something medical to do? She reminded herself, like checking his vitals on the bracelet perhaps? Or get the stick to check his mouth, or the equipment to draw blood. -Something- other than going through her checklist of what makes a man attractive?

“No one here would hold against you to drink a bit, every once in a while. I think most people here do. I must say that I’m glad if you don’t drink in excess, considering how our life is in your hands, when you’re in the pilot seat.” Cameron said and she offered Cain a smile as she neared him, still adjusting the white coat. She took her long red hair out of the coat, letting it fall free behind her shoulders, and dug a bracelet out of her pocket.

“You look all tense. You also look quite healthy, so you shouldn’t have trouble. Just sit comfortably and try to relax. I’m sure you’ve seen far more intimidating than me.” She said, her voice soft so that he be the only one to hear it, and would not carry in the hallway. She took his right hand in hers, small, soft and slightly cool which betrayed that she was a bit nervous around him and doing this. Slowly, she wrapped an orange bracelet about an inch and a half wide with a square digital display screen. “That’s blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature…” She explained so that he might relax a bit more.

“I’ve been on the Gryphon for a couple of weeks. I was its first crew member recruited by the captain. Is there something that you’d like to know?” She asked and gazed up into his eyes. Clear, normal, he appeared to have said the truth about his lack of drug use. He didn’t appear to have dilated pupils or any redness to the white. Perhaps a bit tired? But that was just her interpretation of things and since she was no doctor, she could be wrong. The best that she could do, here and now, was to detect signs of drug use, and she really saw none.

He had really beautiful eyes, she thought, but pushed the thought to later. Or perhaps never, if he turned out to be an absolute jerk. The jury was still out on that one as far as he was concerned; Cameron had trust issues that made her not give men her trust right off. He didn’t raise many red flags however, other than being handsome. Really handsome, and that could hardly be held against him. It would be like resenting the color of her hair, or the size of her breast, both which seem to attract the eyes of the male population whether she wanted it or not.

She rubbed her hands together to try to work some warmth into them. She raised them slowly to the sides of his neck. Her fingertips pressed gently against his skin, moving and prodding to find any hard lumps or bumps that should not be there. Although she had a professional demeanor, right now, there was still a certain readiness in her being that made it seem like she was ready to side step and dodge, should Cain become suddenly threatening.

Cameron was giving the table its third, thorough wipe when she heard steps coming toward the infirmary and words being exchanged. The table did not need that much attention. Daisy had been poisoned, and that wasn’t catching. It wasn’t a virus, or some bacteria, but the simple motions of wiping the top of the bed and then the sides and all the way down to the floor was just soothing for her nerves.

So far, Cameron had rejected only one potential crew member. Her vote was from a purely medical stand point most of the time, but Decker valued her opinion enough, or perhaps her instinct for men who were trouble, to factor it in. The man had tracked her on board of the Gryphon, like some stalker, to claim the bounty that no longer was on her head. Apparently, he had not kept up with the progress of the bounty, keeping his mind on finding the target. By the time he found her, her husband was dead, the bounty was no more. In fact, the cash that would have paid for the bounty was now under her own name…

Still, Cameron felt better knowing that if her instinct for trouble tingled and she let the captain know, there were chances that he would not let the guy on board. So far, Cain had not triggered anything other than a wariness for his chivalrous introduction. That was her own issues at work. Even though she knew that if she ever meant to have a family of her own, it meant that she would have to let a man near her again, trusting was going to be hard to come by. She was not actively seeking, did not size up every man she met for their husband potential, but Cain was handsome and that was hard to miss.

“Definitely. Come in and have a seat. I’ll wash my hands and we’ll get started.” She said and patted the bed on which Daisy had spent the whole trip to Boros. She then walked around to throw her wiping cloth in a hamper, and went to a sink to give her hands a quick wash. “You can count on the same discretion here than you would in any hospital. I am bound by the same oath, the same ethics. If something comes up here, the captain will not know about it unless it endangers the whole crew. If it makes you unsuitable to be our pilot, all he will know is that I do not give you the thumbs up.” She explained, her tone soft, but professional

“Any allergies, illness, drugs, or alcohol? It’s just routine questions.” She asked, although the last two would be a problem only if he intended to pilot under the influence. Cameron wouldn’t say that it was common for both to happen on board, but Alcohol did happen every once in a while. She had wine every so often, so did the captain, from what she understood. She put on a white lab coat, which had all that she needed in its pockets but for a few disposable items.

Cameron gathered her usual equipment around her. She was about to tell the guy that she wasn’t alarmed when he pulled a gun. If that was another one of those assholes bounty hunter who had not gotten the memo that the bounty on her head was gone, she might get murderous. Again. Well, not really, because she didn’t want to make a habit of killing people, but… Oh… Right, he was just disarming himself. Alright. That she could deal with without poking a hole or two in strategic places. She really wasn’t homicidal, but rather kind by nature, but recent events triggered her fierce need to protect herself in the only way she knew how: with the half-dozen small blades hidden on her person.

“You’re telling me. I trusted a captain to give me a lift once. A guy who’s life I had saved by stitching him up. Anyway, he offered me a glass of wine, next thing I knew, I was in his brigs because of a supposed bounty on my head. Good thing for me, the captain wasn’t a total Feh Feh Pi Goh and he did realize his mistake. I’m far less trusting since.” Not once her glance went toward the door where she had last spotted the captain, but she was pretty sure that he was breaking a sweat if he heard this. She wouldn’t betray him, not tell anyone that he was the one who had spiked her wine, but he didn’t know that…

“Don’t worry. Your ass is safe unless you get shot and it’s the only way from me to get the bullet out of you. I draw the line way before that.” Cameron stated and she wrapped a wrist bad around Dos’ wrist that would give her a few basics like heart rate, blood pressure, and other things that can be detected with simple contact through skin by the sensors. “Any illnesses, drug use, allergies that I should know about, should something happen to you?” She asked and gave Dos a polite, professional smile, though the redhead had very gentle manners and warm hands.

“Cammy is good. You can call me doc if you want. I just want people to be aware of my true skill level. I’m no trauma surgeon, but I’ll do my best to keep you alive until we reach one, if it ever comes down to that. Which, of course, we all hope it won’t,” Cameron said, feeling increasingly awkward as she kept on talking, babbling, and finally found a good conclusion to this awkwardness. Could she just go hide back into her medical bay now? Ugh.

“I’m a little jumpy around new people, if you couldn’t tell. It’ll be perfectly find after a few days out.” That was quite a few days out, actually. Unless he proved to be just enough of a charmer to make her feel comfortable, and yet not enough to make her look at him askance every five minutes all while wondering what his ulterior motives was. Cammy wasn’t really paranoid by nature. She was more the careful type of person, the kind that was careful after having her trust broken by the person she had been most intimate and vulnerable with.

“I’ll be in the medbay, Captain. I need to sanitize before I can give Cain his checkup. It was poison, not sickness, but I still want to give the place a quick wipe before someone else sits on that table. You should have enough time for the tour... Oh, and Daisy’s aunt is cleaning her room. Try to be… tactful.” She suggested, her words spoken softly to indicate that she was talking for the captain’s benefit only, but not so that Cain would feel entirely excluded.

“It’s nice meeting you. The Captain has nice piloting skills and all, but it’s nice to know that there’s someone who is dedicated to the task of keeping us safe out there.” She smiled, although her smile had just a little something tight. It could easily be misinterpreted for a resistance to change. He was replacing a crew member who had literally just departed the ship. Crews were sometimes tightly knit, like a family, but that wasn’t the case here. Cameron, however, would not wear the why and the how she became so socially selective and awkward like a banner for all to read.

Cameron heard steps coming toward the medbay, so she put her book aside and prepared for another round of very basic tests. She was eager for a stable kind of crew now, for her to get acquainted with anyone, familiar with them so that she did not feel so tense anymore. Decker was getting there, he was in her circle of people she warily deemed safe to trust. They had done things together, taken a life together in order to free hers, and that created a bond of sort. He was the closest thing to a friend than she had had in a long time.

She had no trouble with the female half of the group. Daisy was nice and Luna was, well, a companion and not quite a crew member. She was still nice, polite, but aloof and distant. Cameron had always been fascinated by these women that seemed to be the summum of refinement and service to others, but apparently, their friendliness was limited to people who paid for it. And apparently, to the captain of this ship, which Cameron saw with a wary eye. Decker was handsome, there was no doubt about that in Cameron’s mind, but what kind of motive could a companion have to charm the captain of the ship which hosts her, when she could have men like Cameron’s own late husband? Men with a bank account containing more money than the Gryphon could hope to make in a decade…

She slipped out of her little nook and went to wash her hands to prepare for what was to come. She had no clue if the tech would come first, or if the mechanic would, but whichever it was, Cameron wanted to present a clean, warm from for them to feel welcome. “You can call me Cammy, and I’m a nurse, a medic, not a full doctor, although Decker calls me doc. Come, have a seat.” She said, patting at the table in the middle of the room. Everything was stark, and every surface that could be shiny was. It betrayed how compulsive Cameron was about the cleanliness of this room.

“They say it’s poison, there’s permanent damage but they can save her. It’s not something we’ve got on board of the ship, so she must have come in contact with it during our last stop.” Cammy watched Daisy leave with a feeling of helplessness. Not for the first time, and probably not for the last, she wished that she could have done more for the pilot. She had not had time to bond with Daisy, although she had been quite sympathetic on all counts. Respectful, nice, a warm presence on the ship, and now Cammy felt that this fell onto her shoulders as the crew shifted and changed. It was obvious that after the captain, she was the oldest member of the crew, but she wasn’t sure she could be that kind of presence for the group. Caring, sure, but a warm and friendly presence toward everyone was too much to ask from her, or so she thought. It wouldn’t stop her from trying, though.

Cammy, who stood just a bit behind her captain, watched the new pilot approach. She gave him a once over with a critical eye. First and foremost, it was a medical observation. He held himself straight, did not appear to limp, or give off signs of weakness, of drug use and what not. She realized that she should have been there each time the captain greeted his new crew, just watching the man behave toward the captain and the ship’s “doctor” was giving her a good sense of the potential crew member. An go shi did she hate being misrepresented as a doctor. She did not deserve the title. She was a nurse with a bonus, a field medic at best, because she had worked emergency assignments more often than not.

To her surprise, the man kissed her hand when she handed it to him. It was a sweet gesture and she was relaxed enough as far as human contact went not to step away like some frightened, feral cat, at the first sign of something that was more than a polite, distant gesture. She even offered the man a genuine smile. She listened to his answer, but when he turned the question back to them, she knew that Decker would not like her answer. Lying had been a habit quickly – and literally – beaten out of her, so she did not like to let misleading happen, not when she was concerned.

“My full name is Cameron. I am a medic, not a full doctor. And that wasn’t my handywork. I actually kept her alive until we landed here.” She said, pointing toward the leaving medical team. Last time that she had corrected Decker, he had insisted to call her doc and even given her something of a sideways glance. She expected pretty much the same this time around, really, but she wouldn’t compromise on something so important.

2517, The Unification War has been over for a decade and Miranda is still a secret. Into The Black is an Alternate Universe Firefly & Serenity fandom roleplaying game. It centers around independent crews of different ships which travel all over the 'verse created by Joss Whedon.